


Cliffhanger

by BettyHT



Series: Lydia [2]
Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:24:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: 2nd in the Lydia series Adam married Lydia and brought her back to the Ponderosa, but there are things the couple must face, and the question is whether that will make their love stronger or create problems in their relationship. For the family, there is a jealous young man who creates more trouble.





	Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger

Chapter 1

It was a Saturday night not much different than most except Adam Cartwright was in town with his two brothers, Hoss and Joe, instead of with his wife Lydia. She had not felt well and asked him to go with his brothers as she planned to go to bed early. Adam and Joe played some poker with friends and Hoss arm-wrestled several men as the night progressed. About ten, Adam said he was calling it a night. He wanted to get home to see how his wife was feeling. He was worried, but Hoss said he thought it was just that thing women got that made them feel poorly once a month.

"You ought to get her with child, Adam. She wouldn't have to go through this for quite a while then."

Adam dropped his head. "Don't you think we've been trying?"

Hoss had not realized he would hurt his brother with that comment and apologized.

"It's not your fault. Maybe it's not meant to be."

"Nah, I gotta believe you two are gonna have a young'un at some point. You'd make a great father so I'm thinking it will happen. Maybe just not as soon as you want."

Adam nodded, and the three brothers walked out together. Joe put a hand on Adam's shoulder. He had heard the conversation and wanted his oldest brother to know that he cared too. As they exited, a young unkempt man at the bar stared after them.

"Damn Cartwrights always showing off how much they got compared to the rest of us."

"Nate, you have no cause to criticize them. You need to get a more positive attitude about people if you want to get ahead in life."

"Sam, why do you have to try to give me advice all the time? What do you know about me?"

"I know you come in here almost every night with the same complaints. You drink two beers before you go."

"Well I got a lot to complain about and two beers is all I can afford. My Pa died when I was a kid, and my Ma worked in your saloon here to make ends meet. Do you know what it does to a kid to go to school and hear the other kids repeat what their parents said about your mother? That she was a saloon girl who was no better than those painted ladies. You got any idea what that would be like?"

"No, I don't know what that's like. But why do you want to blame the Cartwrights for your troubles?"

"They got everything I ain't. Ben Cartwright is richer than any man around. He can buy anything he wants. I gotta save up just to buy new boots when I got a hole in one of these. Spent the whole winter with an old sock tied around the toe of my boot so my own toes wouldn't freeze. Old man Cartwright ever do anything about that? No, but his family is always dressed up real nice. Adam has the prettiest horse in the state. I'd like one like that instead of the nag I hafta ride. I cain't get a decent job cause I don't have a decent cow pony. I'm not strong like that Hoss either, and I don't have a fancy pistol rig like Little Joe. I'd like to have all those nice things and be somebody, but I muck out the livery stable and get just enough money to live in a tent. I got a stove, but it gets darn cold in there some nights."

"You could stay in the back room and help clean up in here. I could pay you a five dollars a week to do that."

"I don't need your charity. I'll get the money I need somehow, but I'll do it on my own like I always have."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I got some ideas. I'm thinking there's a lot of people would be willing to give me some money if things worked out just right, and I'm planning to make them come out just right for me for a change. I can get some of the things I want just by being smart about how I take 'em. Night, Sam. Someday, you're gonna remember that you knew me when I was just a stable boy."

Several days later and far from Virginia City, Adam tried to keep thoughts running through his head that had nothing to do with his predicament, but it was too difficult to do. It's funny what you think about when you're stuck on a talus slope, and there's a long drop onto sharp rocks down below. I have a firm grip on a tree root, and my heels are dug into the loose rocks that are digging into my back, butt, and legs. It's nothing though compared to how those sharp spires down below could dig into me if I fell. Darn horse is as surefooted as any, but this has to be the one place and time he shies just when I wasn't ready for it either. Up in the stirrups lassoing that dang calf to pull it up the slope before it fell any further made me fall when the horse side-stepped. It was a surprise to me because Sport is usually so good with thunder and stays steady, but this time the noise affected him. One thing that's funny is that I'm glad it wasn't Joe who tumbled. He's terrified of heights, and that's a killer in a situation like this. I'm glad it's me. I can stay calm and wait for Joe to get back with a longer rope. Mine went down the slope with that calf, and Hoss didn't have his with him. Joe's rope was too short. Now Hoss is up there waiting. I guess I'm glad I'm not him. It's worse waiting to rescue someone especially when you're sitting there, and there's nothing you can do.

"Hey, Adam, how you doing down there?"

"I'm fine, Hoss, as long as the weather holds. Any rain could make the slope give way like it does with any movement I make. Rain would slow Joe too. I want him to hurry."

Surprised not to hear any more conversation from his big brother whom he thought would know to talk to him in order to take his mind off the precarious position he was in, he suddenly knew why as an intense flash of lightning and the roll of thunder shook the slope and made his insides cramp. The sky darkened as clouds rolled in behind him, and with it, his hope dimmed a bit too. Looking up at the sky, he made a silent plea to God for more time. With the thunder making his sternum vibrate, Adam could swear the slope was vibrating too. He wasn't sure that the dry and cracked tree root would be enough to hold his weight if the slope gave way even partially. There was another problem as he only had the root gripped in his right hand. He had been lucky to catch it as he slid down the slope, but his right arm was trembling with the strained muscles that were weakening with the effort of hanging on. Ominously, small rocks that fell made no sound falling so far that the sound of their impact below couldn't be heard.

"Hey, Adam, I kin see Joe coming. Just hang in there, older brother."

Smiling at the unintended pun, Adam heard the pounding hooves of a horse, then hooves sliding in the dirt as the rider reined the horse in, and the creaking of leather as the rider dismounted. He winced with the throbbing pain of the broken bone in his left arm that would have to grab the rope they threw and somehow get it around him for he wouldn't be able to hang on with that arm. Next, he heard a lot of rocks rolling and bouncing down the slope before toppling over the edge to his left. He chanced turning his head ever so slightly and was shocked when he saw Joe descending the slope about fifteen feet away. Joe looked over at him and gave him a sickly grin.

"I'm going to go below you, and Hoss will pull me up toward you. Get ready to grab onto me when I get there. Trust us. Hang onto me so Hoss can pull us up this slope."

The tears that came to Adam's eyes helped wash some of the grit out of them. He knew how much this was costing his little brother to climb down this precarious slope and see what looked like infinity beckoning at its edge. There was a sheen of sweat on Joe's face that was probably from the exertion and exacerbated by fighting the terror he had to be feeling. Adam had never loved his brother more than at that moment. Joe wasn't only risking his life. He was sacrificing his peace of mind. Adam wanted so much to feel the touch of another human being, his younger brother, to rekindle his hope that he would survive this. Slowly and carefully, Joe maneuvered around until he was directly below Adam.

"It doesn't look like you can use that left arm. We thought so from what we could see from up above. It's bleeding pretty badly."

Bleeding? Now why would it be bleeding? It doesn't look like a compound fracture so why would it be bleeding? I guess that maybe it got cut somehow as I tumbled down this slope. That time is so difficult to remember. I guess it all happened so fast that some things weren't as important as others to remember. I know my heart was pounding with fear as I saw the edge of the slope getting closer and I grabbed for that tree root with everything I had no matter how much it hurt. That's right, now I remember how much my left arm hurt and I couldn't lift it at all to help me stop from going over that edge. I don't remember how it got hurt though.

Adam soon had more pressing concerns as Joe signaled to Hoss to start pulling him up the slope toward Adam. As Joe drew up even with Adam lengthwise, he grabbed Adam's belt with one hand.

"There, I've got you. Now you won't fall. Hoss wants to pull us up before the rain hits. Between him and Chubb, I think they ought to manage, but it's going to be slow going as they drag us over these stones. I want to secure your arm before I tell Hoss to start pulling." Joe kept his left hand firmly holding Adam's belt and withdrew a long cloth sling from inside his jacket. He slipped that around Adam's arm grimacing in sympathy as Adam reacted to that arm being moved. Then he looped it over Adam's head pulling the knot as tight as he could without causing Adam any undue pain. "There, we're as ready as we're going to be. Now you need to wrap an arm around my shoulders so we can get pulled up. You can let go of the root now."

"Shouldn't we wait for more help to arrive?"

"Hop Sing and Pa should be here with a wagon very soon, but if it starts raining, pulling us up is going to get more and more difficult."

"Lydia?"

"She was still not home from town but they were expecting her soon because of the bad weather rolling in. I don't know if she got back before they headed this way. You know Hop Sing. He wanted to pack up all the things he thought he might need to doctor you up."

Through waves of pain from his left arm, Adam heard what Joe said but found that letting go was difficult. It had been the only thing keeping him alive for the past few hours and his mind took some moments to adjust to the idea of letting it go. Joe waited patiently and talked softly about what was going to happen understanding what Adam needed to do. As soon as Adam relaxed his right hand, Joe signaled to Hoss to start pulling. Adam panicked a little and grabbed so hard for Joe that he got some of his hair.

"Hey, let go of the hair, would you. You pull like that, and I'm going to be scalped."

Adam smiled at that even as he forced his hand to release the hair.

"What's so funny?"

We didn't scalp him. We told Pa we would watch twelve-year-old Joe while Pa went to town, and we were tired of having to try to get a comb through that mop of hair and hearing Pa yelling all the time about Little Joe needing a haircut. When we walked back inside and found him sleeping at the dining table with his head down on his arms, we looked at each other and grinned because we had the same thought. That kid could sleep through anything. We got a towel and the scissors, and working together, we trimmed the sides and back. There was a lot of hair on the floor, but then we had to tackle the top curls which turned out to be a lot more difficult for us. We did our best, but it took several tries before we got it even. By then, we were rather shocked by the amount of hair lying on the floor. We cleaned that up, and then we hightailed it out to the stable. When Pa got back, we took care of his horse, and we relaxed a bit thinking Pa would like what we did, or at least we sincerely hoped that he would, but then we heard the kid screaming about how we scalped him. Pa had that look on his face when he stood on the porch as we walked to the house when summoned. We knew it wasn't going to be good for us, but at least we were in it together.

"I was remembering the time once long ago when you said Hoss and I had scalped you."

"You did. You and Hoss made me look like I had been attacked by Bannock and relieved of my hair."

"I bet your head was a lot cooler that summer."

"I bet you weren't cool that day. I remember Pa blistering you pretty good for that one. It was the only good thing about what you two did. I got to hear Pa yell at you for a good ten minutes."

"It was mostly for show. He winked at us when his back was to you."

"He what?"

God listened that day. It was a long process and there were a number of abrasions on both men before it was done, but the chatter kept their minds off the difficulties of being dragged up that slope. By the end, both were exceedingly relieved to feel Hoss' hands helping them over the edge to sit on the flat trail above. Hoss sat and let Adam lean into him, and wrapped a big handkerchief around his upper left arm. It was all he had with him to use. At that moment, the deluge began. Joe started laughing and soon Hoss and Adam had to chuckle a bit with the release of the tension. There were three wet and smiling brothers sitting on the ground leaning against each other as their father and Hop Sing arrived with a wagon. Lydia was right behind them in her carriage with the sides down and she was wearing a slicker. Lydia rushed to Adam's side faster than anyone. As she knelt by Adam's side and waited for Hop Sing to get there to help, there were tears sliding down her face mixing with the raindrops.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. It's only my arm that's hurt. I think it might be broken."

Hoss and Joe frowned. Hoss was the first to speak. "Adam, your arm ain't broken. You've been shot. You got a bump on your head too probably from when you first fell."

Chapter 2

"I'm shot?" Adam looked up at Hoss thoroughly confused about what had happened to him before he was hanging on to the tree root and praying for help.

"Yep, looks like a rifle shot. Lucky for you that he was a bad shot. He missed the bone, and of course, I doubt he was aiming at your arm."

"Why would someone shoot me?" Adam looked around then. "Where's Sport?"

"Gone. Whoever rolled you down that slope musta took him. Maybe that's why you got shot." Hoss felt very bad then because he could see how that Sport being taken upset Adam even more than being shot. All of them found out though how Adam didn't remember some of what had happened to him.

"I fell down the slope."

"No, when Joe and me got here there were boot tracks and drag marks. There were tracks from two horses too. You got shot off your horse and then somebody, most likely the one who shot you, dragged you to the edge and rolled you over. Somehow, you had enough sense left to grab that tree root."

Conversation was halted then as Hop Sing asked Lydia to help to bandage Adam's arm. The rain had diminished to a slight sprinkle so they were able to clean the wound and bandage it as Ben, Hoss, and Joe held a tarp over them. Hop Sing cleaned the small wound on the side of Adam's head and wrapped a light bandage around that as well. By the time they finished, Adam was shivering so Ben handed off his corner of the tarp to Hop Sing and went to the wagon to get a blanket from those that he had secured under another small tarp. Once they got the blanket wrapped around Adam, they helped him into the carriage because they decided it would be a more comfortable ride for him. Hoss climbed in to drive the carriage with Adam resting in Lydia's embrace in the back seat. Adam's thinking was still a bit confused yet over what had happened to him. Hoss repeated everything that he had said earlier but said it as a complete story from beginning to end based on what they knew so far.

"Can you track him and get Sport back?"

Hoss knew then how much Adam was affected by his head injury and his ordeal. "Adam, you know we can't find any kind of tracks after a rain especially on a stony mountain trail like that one. We'll send somebody to tell Roy, and he can send out wires looking for Sport cause the man riding him is the one who tried to kill you."

"I want my horse back."

"I know how you feel. We'll do everything we can. A big chestnut like him with those white socks and a Ponderosa brand should be easy enough to notice. We'll put a reward out for him to get people looking for him."

"Thanks, Hoss. I know you'll do everything you can." Adam grimaced then as the carriage rolled through some ruts.

"Adam, lean back into me and close your eyes. You'll have plenty of time for talking later. For now, why don't you try to fall asleep? That will make the ride home a lot more tolerable for you."

"I don't think I can fall asleep."

"Close your eyes then and relax. The bumps won't seem so bad if you resting against me."

Hoss had to smile. Ever since Lydia had arrived on the Ponderosa the previous year, Adam had changed in some subtle but important ways. He was doing some engineering and design work but also worked on the ranch as he was needed. That made him a happier or at least a more content man, but the bigger change was that edge that he had previously had in conversations when there were points of contention. He was less likely to bark and more likely to softly state his ideas now especially when talking with his wife or brothers. He still sometimes argued more enthusiastically with their father but Hoss guessed that was because they had such a long history of working out the issues between them just that way. Adam had always been the one who was capable of the greatest diplomacy and tact but often his frustration led him to forget those talents and focus on the intimidating aspects of his personality even when dealing with friends and family. The rain had finally stopped although the granite colored sky let them know that it could begin again at any time. Hoss hoped it would hold off for another half hour because he thought they could be home by then. Lydia noticed him shivering.

"Hoss, you should use the carriage blanket I put under the seat."

"I didn't know you did that. Maybe we should wrap it around Adam."

"He feels warm enough under the circumstances. He's sheltered here and has me for some warmth. You're sitting in the open and you're soaking wet. Wrap that blanket around you. We don't need both of you in bed recuperating with all the work coming up on the ranch."

Accepting her logic and her orders, Hoss pulled the carriage to a halt and wrapped the blanket around him. Joe was riding ahead of them and had a blanket wrapped around him too. He looked back to see why Hoss had stopped and gave him a thumbs up when he saw that he had a blanket too. Ben was riding Chubb and Hop Sing was driving the buckboard. They made quite a little caravan arriving at the ranch house before the rain began to come down almost sideways in the strong winds. Adam was safe and dry in the house by then. Hoss and Joe took the horses in the stable and decided to wait out the storm there. Hoss said he could see lighter skies to the west so they didn't think the rain would last long and it didn't. Once they got inside, they smelled the coffee that Hop Sing was brewing as well as some smoke from the fire blazing in the fireplace. Both Hoss and Joe moved quickly to stand before the fire and that's where Ben saw them as he came down the stairs. He smiled as the two of them moved in synchronized motion as they turned to let the fire warm their backs as it had warmed their fronts.

"Hey, Pa. How's Adam?"

"The wound in his arm isn't serious. The head injury has him a little confused but he seems to know everyone and everything so I would think that won't be a problem in a few days. That left arm of his has taken a beating in the last year though. I hope this doesn't limit his motion any more than it already is. Lydia is bathing his back and arms to make sure none of those little cuts get infected."

"I wish I had someone to give me a bath like that." Too late, Joe realized that he shouldn't have opened up that line of discussion. Hoss gave him a look that clearly indicated he didn't like it at all.

"Well, Joseph, I wish you did have a wife to give you a bath like that. I wish that Hoss had the same. I'm not getting any younger and I'm still waiting."

"Pa, isn't it the job of the oldest son to have the grandchildren first." From the looks he got for that statement, Joe knew there was something wrong but didn't know what it was. Later Hoss reminded him of what Adam had said to him when he had made that flippant remark about Adam and Lydia having a child. Ben did insist that Joe let Hop Sing wash the small wounds that he had and put salve on them. Even a small wound could become serious if an infection developed. By dinner, Adam was at the table with Lydia but had little appetite. Lydia and Hoss walked him back up the stairs and to bed despite his earlier protestations that he was 'fine' because they both knew he said that even when he wasn't. Lydia put the lamp on the table and took out a book. She read and intermittently looked over at Adam as he slept. He seemed very uncomfortable and tossed and turned much of the night unable to find a way to sleep that did not cause him some discomfort.

In town, Nate was feeling very fine indeed. He was proud of himself. He had stolen a horse and hidden it away in a spot where he was sure no one would find it. The one thing he was even more proud of doing was killing a Cartwright. He had seen Adam grab that branch and lay very still. He guessed that it wouldn't be long before his strength gave out and he fell over the edge and over one hundred feet to sharp spires of rock below. That a lowly stable boy could take out one of the Cartwrights so easily filled him with a great sense of accomplishment and made him begin planning an even bigger escapade and one that was sure to get him two things he wanted more than anything else now that he had a fine horse: a fancy pistol rig and lots of money. He did kick himself figuratively for not taking Adam's gun belt when he had the chance. He did have his fancy saddle and his rifle though. He guessed he was well on his way to moving up in the world. He had to do more though, and it would be a week before he could consider doing anything about carrying out his plan. He had to wait for another day off so that suspicion wouldn't fall on him. There was also the need for money for food for the next week. After that, he was thinking that money wasn't going to be a problem.

I'll ride down the street on that pretty horse on that hand tooled saddle with a fancy six-gun rig on my hip, and people will look up at me and be jealous. No, girls will look up at me and want to be with me. I'll kiss 'em all and take the prettiest one for my own. No one will dare stand in my way or I'll kill 'em.

For a time, Nate reveled in his dream but then realized he was hungry because he hadn't eaten all day. In the morning, his nervous stomach told him not to eat, and then he'd been so busy, he hadn't had time to eat. To celebrate, he decided to go over to the restaurant in the International House and have a steak dinner. It might mean eating beans for every meal the rest of the week, but he had done that before. Within ten minutes, he was seated in the restaurant and had given his order. He knew the waiter wondered if he was going to pay for the meal so he put his dollar coin on the table to let him know he could pay. When the thick steak with potatoes and a chunk of fresh baked bread arrived, he dug into his meal with gusto. What he overheard though made his meal feel like a lead weight in his stomach. Sheriff Roy Coffee came into the restaurant and joined Doctor Paul Martin at a table.

"Well, Paul, I'm glad you could make this dinner and not get called out to the Ponderosa to tend to Adam."

"Roy, why would I have to tend to Adam?"

"Well, now, you see you don't hafta. Someone shot him but they weren't a good shot and only put a bullet through his arm. He got a bump on the head too, but between his wife and Hop

Sing, I'm guessing they handled all that right well. If it had been too much for 'em, then Ben woulda had someone in town here to fetch you."

"Who shot him?"

"No one rightly knows but it seems who done it took his horse. Adam is right fond of that horse and wants him back. I sent out telegrams to all the neighboring towns. It's not so much to get the horse back, but whoever has got him is the one who done shot Adam and tried to kill him."

"But a shot through the arm doesn't mean he was trying to kill Adam."

"No, maybe not, but rolling him over the side and hoping he'd slide down off the edge to drop likely a hundred feet is attempted murder in my book."

"How did he survive it?"

"Caught a tree root according to what I was told. Then Hoss and Joe went looking for him when he didn't show up where he was supposed to when he was supposed to. Joe went down to get him and then Hoss pulled the two of them up."

Not able to listen to any more of that conversation, Nate paid for his meal and left taking the leftovers with him. He couldn't afford to waste anything even if he wanted to escape that restaurant as fast as he could. He got back to his tent dwelling on the edge of town and picked up sticks and kindling for his stove. Wood was getting harder and harder to find, and he didn't know what he was going to do the next winter. But for tonight, he was going to splurge and get that chill out of him that the sheriff's words had put there. He sat huddled on his cot and thought about what he needed to do. Apparently this outlaw business required much more thought than he had anticipated, and he was going to have to be more ruthless too. He cursed that Cartwright luck again angry that Adam had survived and ruined the greatest accomplishment of his life. He wished he had a wife to hold him close and comfort him, but no woman was going to marry a man who earned four dollars a week working at a livery stable. He blamed the Cartwrights for his loneliness too even though it was his sour temperament that drove people away from him. Right there he amended his plans. He wasn't going to kidnap Little Joe. He had a better plan and realized he needed to think it through and prepare for any surprises.

Chapter 3

"What are you thinking about, my dear? You seem a million miles away." Ben had walked outside to see Lydia sitting in a chair on the porch staring into space. Adam was taking a nap. He was recuperating well from his minor injuries but was finding it difficult to sleep through the night so he was tired during the day. He had fallen asleep in the blue chair and Lydia had gone outside to work on some sewing. From what Ben could see, she had not gotten much done.

"Oh, nothing too much, I guess. There's so much that's happened in the last year that I need to sit down and think about it sometimes."

"I understand that, but it seems that the thinking you're doing is making those frown lines stand out. I know you're worried about something and Adam is doing very well so it must be something else. Is it something that another compassionate listener might help you with?"

"I don't know. You may be of the same opinion as Adam."

"We do disagree fairly often. By now, you must know that."

Lydia dropped her head and nodded. She sighed deeply and looked up at her father-in-law's gentle face deciding to be completely honest with him. She hoped he would not be too embarrassed to talk about the subject. "I want so much to have a baby with Adam. But it's been nearly a year and nothing has happened yet. I think he would be a wonderful father. I don't know what's wrong with me. In my first marriage, I was with child without even trying. It seemed they came along very regularly. At my age now, I didn't expect a bunch of children but I thought that one or two would be nice. Now I'm failing. I know how much you want a grandchild and now your son has married a barren woman."

Ben had so many things he wanted to say but had to move cautiously because he knew how potent and potentially touchy this subject could be. "What does Adam say?"

"He said that perhaps it's him. He said he's never fathered a child so perhaps he can't, but one look at him and you know he's all man. He could have a baby if the woman wasn't barren. He said that we're a family already and that we don't have to have children to be happy."

"How do you feel about that?"

"He says that now, but in twenty years, will it be a great regret of his life that he never had a child? I'm afraid that it will be and that he will blame me. I couldn't bear to be the one who causes him such pain and regret."

"Lydia, you make Adam happy. I know that you have lifted many burdens from him and shared others. He needs you and he loves you. He knew when he waited so long to marry that he might not have children. He accepted that possibility, but I wouldn't give up on the idea just yet. It seems that many older couples wait longer than younger ones to have children. I know that you're right in that the two of you might only have one child together, but that child will be loved like no other. Give yourself some time. Relax about it. This stress isn't good for trying to do what you want to do."

"Thank you, Ben. You're a wonderful father too and very wise. I guess the stress about someone trying to kill Adam and then seeing that cliff he could so easily have slipped over has made me worry more than is good for me or for him."

Now hold him close and let him try for a bit but guide his mouth to where it needs to be. There you go! Now that baby of yours knows what's good for him. He's a healthy one, ain't he?

Holding her son as she was coached by a midwife on how to breastfeed and watching him suckle for the first time was the memory that Lydia carried in her heart and wanted to experience again, but she might never be able to do that. She sighed and looked to her father-in-law. "Has Roy or anyone found out anything about who shot Adam?"

"Lydia, I'm waiting for Hoss and Joe to get back with the supplies and the mail. I hope that Roy had some news for them, but it has been days already."

"Could it be someone from around here? Could they be hiding Sport somewhere because they know how recognizable he is?"

"It could be, but why take him at all then?"

"That is what is very strange about all of this. I can only think it might have been someone passing through the mountains. If they avoided all the towns and crossed into California, we wouldn't likely get word that anyone had spotted Adam's horse. Places like Timbertrack are so out of the way that people could pass through without anyone knowing you were looking for them."

"Because of that, we may never know who did this to him. We don't know anything about the man who did it."

"We know a few things." Adam surprised Lydia and Ben walking out then as they were engaged in conversation.

"What do we know?" Ben was surprised because he didn't think there was anything they knew about the man who had shot his son and tried to kill him.

"We know he's new at this. He took a shot from too far away to be accurate. Makes me think he was scared of what he was trying to do. He's a bit squeamish too. Up close, he couldn't shoot me. He pushed me over that slope so he wouldn't have to see me die. Then when I was hanging on to the tree root, one bullet would have killed me or sent me over the edge and killed me. Whoever did this couldn't bring themselves to shoot me up close and personal."

Ben frowned in thought. What Adam said made sense and pushed him back to thinking that whoever had done it was local. "Have you made anyone angry lately that they would like to take revenge on you?"

"I've been thinking about that and no one that I can recall, but it might be something for Roy to ask around in town to see if anyone has been talking that way about me. Another thing that does point to the revenge angle is why take my horse. If I was dead, it wouldn't bother me. They obviously had a saddle and they didn't need mine so why not take a horse from the ones we have in the pastures? One of those could be taken and we might not even realize for quite a while."

Ben nodded. It made a lot of sense. "Why didn't you mention your theories earlier?" Adam gave his father one of those crooked little smiles until Ben nodded. "Of course. You had a head injury and weren't thinking clearly for a few days. That must have cleared up for you."

"It has. Now I'm wondering if I was targeted specifically or was I a convenient first effort at being an outlaw."

"Son, it wasn't so convenient because he was on the Ponderosa. It makes me think that you were the intended target all along or perhaps it didn't matter which one of us it was. It could be a vendetta against the Cartwrights and that opens up a whole realm of possible suspects."

"Unfortunately, all we have at this point is speculation. I hope those brothers of mine come home with some news or at least a hint of a clue as to who did this. We need to know so that we can know if there is more to come. So there's not much else to say on that topic. What else have the two of you been discussing while I was sleeping?"

Lydia stood suddenly picking up the small basket she had brought out with her. "I need to go help Hop Sing. I promised him that I would help him with the baking this afternoon." With that, she headed into the house without any more comments.

Watching Lydia leave, Adam had some idea of what the topic had been because they had been discussing it much like this for a couple of months but in the past few weeks, Lydia had become almost obsessed with the topic. "You talked about us not having children?"

Ben wasn't sure how to proceed because he knew how much Adam valued his privacy and hoped his son wouldn't consider this an invasion of it. "I knew something was bothering her, and she told me the basic worries she has." Ben was reminded of Adam as a young boy then as his son dropped his head and stared at the ground.

"I've told her that it doesn't matter to me. I have her and that's the most important thing right now. She doesn't believe me."

Ben stepped over to his son sitting in a chair next to the one vacated by Lydia, and he put his hand on Adam's shoulder. "You might have to try looking at it from her perspective. She wants so much to have a child with you. Worrying how disappointed you must be might be because she is that disappointed. Instead of trying to convince her that it isn't that important to you, you need to talk about how important it is to her."

Looking up at his father, Adam smiled a little crooked smile. "No matter how old a man gets, his father is still wiser than he is."

"Thank you. It's good to know that I can still offer some fatherly advice to my son."

Any more conversation was ended with the arrival of Hoss and Joe with the wagonload of supplies. Adam still had his left arm in a sling but stepped to the wagon to help carry lighter items into the house. The big question that he and his father had was answered by Joe before it was asked.

"Roy doesn't have anything yet. He's got a list of people who have been speaking against Adam or against us, but we looked over the list and it seems like they're all people we hardly know or people that likely were only grumbling. There's no likely candidate to do anything like what happened to Adam."

"Yes, Roy said to tell you that we should be real careful though. He thinks it is somebody local cause he didn't get any response to the telegrams about Sport. With that big reward on him, somebody woulda noticed if the man rode him outta here. Roy figures he's got that horse hidden away somewhere and is keeping him for some reason we ain't figured out yet."

"While you two were gone, Adam, Lydia, and I discussed it. Adam had an idea that it might be somebody new to doing this kind of thing because they could only shoot at him from too far away and didn't shoot him when he was helpless and close. Whoever did it wanted that slope to do what he couldn't do himself."

Hoss and Joe nodded because that made sense. Hoss had the first question.

"Why take Sport and the saddle and all then? Anybody local or even new at this would know that everybody around here would recognize Adam's horse."

They continued to discuss the topic of the unknown assailant but had no more insights. Meanwhile the young man who was the cause of their worry was riding out to feed some grain to Sport and make sure the temporary corral was holding him securely. Nate pulled some sweet grass and dropped it beside the pail into which he had dumped a measure of grain. Sport ate keeping a wary eye on this man he did not trust. Nate leaned on a post of his temporary corral and admired the horse proud once again of what he had accomplished. As he looked around, he realized that there was a lot of wood in this location, it was sheltered from any strong winds, and there was a small spring for water. He had chosen it because it was so hidden from view and had the small box canyon with the small spring. The location had seemed perfect for his purpose because he knew that Adam Cartwright's horse was too recognizable to ride anywhere around Virginia City. He wanted that horse so badly though that he had come up with this place to hide him until he was ready to leave.

But now he had heard about those telegrams that Sheriff Coffee had sent as well as the reward for Sport, and Nate knew that once he completed his plan, he would have to go further from the area than he had first thought. But now he began to think he ought to move his tent out here for the few weeks it might take him to carry out the rest of his plan. He decided that on the next day, he would bring his tent and belongings and set up in this location. No one would think it strange that he was moving his tent if he gave them reasons such as more wood, sheltered, and with its own water supply. He smiled at his own cleverness and mounted up to ride back to town. He planned to go to the saloon as he usually did but he had another reason to be there now. He had heard that Sheriff Roy Coffee was asking around about people who might be saying things against the Cartwrights. He wondered if anyone had mentioned his name. He guessed that Sam might have let that slip and told Roy about Nate's complaints. If he had mentioned how much Nate envied that horse that Adam had, it might turn suspicion toward him.

If only that Adam Cartwright had died the way he was supposed to die. I wouldn't be having all this trouble if he was dead. No one would care so much about his horse if he was dead. It's all his fault. I think I better figure out something extra special in my plan for him. He needs to be dead. He's the one I planned to kill, and the whole thing falls apart if he's not dead. I might have to change things up to get everything I want. Yes, indeed I do. I need to make some changes in my plan.

Chapter 4

"I don't want you to go to town. It's not safe for you to travel alone."

Adam was certain that Lydia ought to stay at home on the ranch where she could be protected. However she had been going to town once a week when the weather was nice enough and meeting with a group of women at the minister's house. They talked about the Bible and sewed items for their families exchanging hints, patterns, and sometimes bits of cloth and thread that were no longer needed. Lydia didn't want to give up that one day a week that she got to spend with other women.

"It's been a week and nothing has happened. Besides, I wasn't the target. You were."

"Sweetheart, we've discussed this with the family. At his point, we don't know if I was the target or the family was the target. Roy doesn't want us traveling anywhere alone."

"Well, you could come with me. There must be something you could do in town for a few hours while I meet with my sewing group. Your right arm is uninjured so you could protect us. I'll drive and you ride shotgun." Lydia grinned and Adam knew he had lost. He shrugged and walked inside to get his pistol. As a precaution, he grabbed a shotgun too. He knew he couldn't fire a rifle accurately with his left arm still healing, but he assumed he could use the shotgun if necessary. He went in the kitchen to tell Hop Sing where he and Lydia were going.

"You no go. You stay home and be safe. Hop Sing have very bad feeling about you going to town with Missy Lydia."

"I'll watch for trouble along the way. I'm bringing this shotgun along too, and I promise that we will be very careful. All right?"

"Man who hurt you still out there. Not good you go with no family to help."

"They all rode out together this morning. There's no one else, and you know how stubborn my wife is when she wants something."

"I come with you. I drive. You watch."

Hop Sing began gathering a few items and Adam knew he had lost another argument. Lately it seemed that he lost quite a few of those which was very different than his experience, and yet he found that he didn't mind too much. He smiled as he walked outside to tell Lydia that there would be a third person going to town with them and anticipated her objections. He said almost nothing waiting for Hop Sing to answer her. He listened when that happened until Lydia turned to him and implored him to help her.

"Sweetheart, you never win an argument with Hop Sing so you better get used to the idea of having two bodyguards along with you instead of only one."

Adopting a smile, Lydia put out her hand so that Adam would help her into the carriage. Adam climbed in behind her, and then Hop Sing moved up onto the front seat as Adam rested the shotgun over his knees. He noted that Hop Sing had placed a shotgun under the front seat. If anyone tried to harm them up close, they were going to face a devastating weapon at close range. He did feel more confident with Hop Sing along and leaned back into the seat doing his best to relax even though the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Somehow he sensed that there was someone nearby who meant them harm. He kept a close lookout all the way to town but never saw much of anything out of the ordinary even though at one point, he was sure that he saw some movement along the road ahead of them. He warned Hop Sing, but when they got to that point, nothing happened. It was a pleasant ride to town and a pleasant ride back.

Nate was furious. He had watched for the carriage and then moved into the brush as it neared and he found that his plans were not going to work that morning. Once more, Adam Cartwright had thwarted his plans. He had been so confident that morning. The first step in his plan had been to kidnap Lydia Cartwright. He knew that every Thursday, which conveniently was also his day off each week, she came to town in a carriage, but the best part was that she always came alone. According to his plan, she would be taken to his hideout and tied up before he returned the carriage to the road and sent it off in the direction of the Ponderosa. The next part of the plan was to watch for Joe Cartwright and catch him by surprise so that Nate could give him the ransom note with instructions as well as get him to drop his gun. Instead, he watched the carriage go by his ambush position because he wasn't ready to face two men in order to kidnap Adam Cartwright's wife. His plan was in shambles that morning.

Adam Cartwright has to die. One way or another, he will die by my hand. Maybe I'll wait and kidnap him. I bet his father would pay a load of money to get him back, but he wouldn't get him back. I'd take the money and then kill the bastard who keeps ruining my plans. Hey that's an even better plan. I'd have the money, the horse, the pistol, and there wouldn't be any witnesses.

Furious, Nate knew he needed to rein in his temper so he wouldn't do anything rash that would draw suspicion to him. Gradually calming himself, he was reminded that a weakness in his plan was that he would never kill or harm a woman so if he kidnapped Mrs. Cartwright, she could be a witness against him. There were many other weaknesses in his whole plan but at that moment, Nate was unaware of them. He daydreamed about going to Denver with a fine horse, a fancy pistol rig, and lots of money. It was a small consolation though when he got back to his tent and realized he had only beans to eat for the following week. In order to salvage something from the day, he decided to try some fishing. He managed to catch a few fish, roasted and ate one, and decided to head into town to see if he could sell the rest. He was able to do that which gave him a few extra coins for the week. He headed to the saloon after watching the Cartwright carriage leave town.

On the Ponderosa, Ben was concerned that Adam had gone with Lydia to town. A one-armed man and a cook were not what he had in mind when they discussed that none of them should go anywhere alone. He didn't say anything about his misgivings but was relieved when Lydia said that she didn't need to go to town on any more Thursdays so they didn't need to worry. Ben was relieved at first but wondered later why she had suddenly given up the one chance she had to socialize with other women each week. Wisely, he left that for Adam to discuss with her.

On the way back from town, Adam had noted how quiet Lydia was, and no effort to draw her out worked. He decided to wait until they were alone to discuss it because it was obvious that something was bothering her. When she announced that she didn't need to go to any more of the Bible discussion and sewing group, he knew something had happened. Once they got to their room, he asked for her help in unbuttoning his shirt. He could do it, but his left arm was sore from the exertions of the day and not yet fully healed from the latest injury. Lydia stepped up to him and began unbuttoning his shirt very mechanically and without looking at him. When she had it opened all the way, Adam wrapped one arm around her.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to stop there. We could see about working on that special project we have."

With that, Lydia buried her face against Adam's chest and began to cry. The more she cried, the more intense it became. Soon, Adam could feel her tears on his chest. He held her and waited for her to be able to talk with him about what was bothering her so terribly. Once the sobs had diminished to a mewling cry, he gathered her more closely to him and guided her to the bed where he sat pulling her onto his lap as one might a child. She had trouble talking but managed to tell him not to treat her as a child.

"Sweetheart, I know you are not a child. You're my wife, my friend, and my partner. You are everything to me, and I would do anything for you. Right now, I want to hold you and I can do that best this way. Now, tell me what the ladies said that got you so upset."

That surprised Lydia very much at first, but as she thought about it, she should have known Adam would have guessed that. She looked up at him then and fought to get control of her voice.

"It's not anything they said. It's what they're doing."

"Doing to you?"

"No, just doing. Maribeth is having her third baby. Emmaline is having her first and she's only been married a few months. It rather shocked some of the ladies that she's with child already. I'm sure they'll be checking the calendar to see how the dates line up. Adam, every woman in that group has children. I'm the only one who doesn't."

Leaning down, Adam kissed her very softly. "I should have known how important that was to you. You want a baby very much, don't you?" Lydia nodded unable to vocalize that dream because the pain of not having a baby made her nearly inconsolable. "Sweetheart, one way or another, we can have a child. If you don't insist on having a newborn baby, I can guarantee it. We can visit orphanages and find a child for us."

"Us? You want a child that much too?"

"Probably not as much as you do, but I do dream of being a father and teaching my child and watching him or her grow."

"But what would your father say?"

"He will love our child no matter how the child arrives in our family."

"You seem very sure of that."

Nodding, Adam had one caveat. "I do think that we could wait for a few months more to be sure we aren't going to have a child the old-fashioned way. Let's set a date. If you're not with child by then, we'll move ahead with the idea of adopting."

"How about Christmas? If I'm not with child by then, we can find a child to be ours."

"That's a plan, and you know how I love a plan." Adam smiled at Lydia who was able to give him a genuine smile in return. "Now, do you suppose we could spend some time working on the first part of that plan tonight?"

Before things could progress any further, there was a knock on the door. Perturbed at the intrusion into their private time, Adam opened the door ready to verbally blast whomever had decided they needed them at that very inopportune moment and was surprised to see his father standing at the door. Ben looked a somewhat sheepish at having had to interrupt them but also looked worried. There was something else in his expression that Adam couldn't quite identify but he had a better idea after his father delivered his message.

"I am very sorry to interrupt the quiet time that I know both of you needed, but we have a surprise visitor. She is quite upset and wants to talk with you. She has a baby with her and says that you're responsible for getting her into a mess."

Chapter 5

As soon as Lydia washed her face with cool water and got her hair back into some semblance of order, she and Adam walked down the hallway together. At the top of the stairs, what Ben had said made sense. Janelle was sitting in front of the fireplace holding a baby on her lap as Ben and Joe sat with her. Hoss was outside apparently and they assumed he was taking care of the carriage in which she had arrived. Janelle was thin almost to the point of being emaciated. She turned to Adam and Lydia with a look that could only be described as plaintive. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was pale.

"Janelle, what are you doing here, and why did you tell my family that I got you into a mess?"

"If it wasn't for you, I my father would never have made me marry Rolly."

"Where is Rolly? Why are you here alone, or rather why are you here with your baby?"

"Rolly's dead. He thought he could do anything and a big tree came down and kicked back. He fought so hard to live, but in the end, the tree won. The doctor said there were too many injuries inside of him and that he couldn't have lived no matter what anyone did. It was just after our baby was born. Things were looking so good and now they're awful."

Janelle broke down in tears then as Lydia sat beside her and Adam sat on the coffee table in front of the fireplace. He took out a handkerchief and handed it to Janelle. As the crying subsided, she looked up and they could see the trust she had in them.

"You know, I never thought I could love him. Papa made me marry him, and I thought I was trapped into a horrible situation, but then I realized how much he loved me and how fierce he was in protecting me. I never had felt that safe in my life. But now it's a nightmare. I can't take care of this baby. Papa is sick and is selling the business. He and Mama are moving to Arizona because the doctors say the air might be better for him there, but there are Apache raids and terrible heat. I can't go there. I have an offer of marriage from a man in San Francisco that I knew many years ago. His company is buying father's business and that's how we got reacquainted, but he doesn't want to raise another man's daughter."

With her heart rate accelerating, Lydia looked to Adam wondering if he anticipated the same thing she thought Janelle was about to say. Adam lightly squeezed her hand.

"Janelle, how can we help?"

"Take my baby and raise her. I want her to have what you have. I want her to have a loving family and a wonderful place to grow up free of all the kinds of trouble I got into when I got older. You would be better for her than I could ever hope to be and certainly am not now."

"This is too much to talk about now. You need to rest and your baby needs you." Adam could see the baby squirming and scrunching up her face. He knew she would be crying soon, but what surprised him was how softly the baby cried. He looked at Janelle.

"I don't have enough milk for her. She's hungry and I can't even do that right."

Hop Sing was there then with a small bottle of warm milk. He had fashioned a nipple for the bottle much as Hoss did when he was feeding some small critter that had been orphaned. It was no surprise then to see Hoss walk out of the kitchen too although he had a cup of coffee and a small plate with cookies. As Hop Sing handed the bottle to Janelle, she refused it and turned to Lydia handing the baby to her.

"You feed her. You'll love it, I'm sure. You were meant to be a mother again. I'm not."

"Janelle, I will feed her, but you need to take some time to think this through. We'll all help you as much as we can."

"I just told you the help that I need."

Ben decided to intervene then. With what had been said, he had gradually pieced together Janelle's story. He remembered from the things that he had learned from Adam and from Lydia that Janelle had been interested in Adam or even obsessed with him. She had made an attempt to harm Lydia that luckily had failed. Her father had pushed her to marry one of his employees and moved her away from town and temptation. Now apparently that husband was dead, and Janelle was here with her baby anxious to hand her over to Adam and Lydia so that she could go off and marry someone else. "Janelle, I don't know you well, but you are a guest here, and we will help you all that we can. Right now, you need to eat and rest. Your baby needs the same."

"That's just it. I never get to rest with her. She's always crying and demanding my attention. I can't do it any more."

As Ben had talked with Janelle, Lydia had begun feeding the baby who was slurping away noisily at the bottle Lydia held. "Not so fast, little one. You're going to get so much gas that way." Lydia picked up the baby and held the tiny bundle to her shoulder. There was soon a loud belch and a little spit up. Ben handed a handkerchief to Adam who wiped the dribble from Lydia's dress as she once again began feeding the baby. "Janelle, what's her name?"

"Adelaide. Rolly insisted because it was his mother's name. I've been calling her Addy." Janelle began eating the cookies that Hoss had given to her and sipped the coffee. She began to relax and hope that things would work out. She watched as Lydia fed her daughter looking at her as if she was in love with her already. She hoped that would happen, but she also noted how lovingly Adam was looking at his wife with Addy in her arms. Almost imperceptibly, Janelle nodded. She did finally smile. Thank you all. I couldn't have hoped for a better reception than what you've given us."

Ben again interjected his ideas. "We've got an old cradle in the attic. Hoss and Joe perhaps you could get that and clean it up quickly. Hop Sing, we must have some small pieces of cloth or felt for the cradle. Janelle, we can put the two of you in a guest room upstairs or down here."

"Oh, no, I can't sleep if she's with me. She'll cry over and over again because I can't take care of her. I hardly slept in the two days it took me to get here." There was desperation in her voice and what seemed to be a hint of panic.

Lydia calmed her quickly. "For tonight, I'll take care of her so that you can sleep. In the morning, when you're rested, we can talk more."

"Thank you, Lydia. I know you have every reason to distrust me or even hate me, but you are being so wonderful. I know I made the right decision to come here to see you and Adam."

Hoss and Joe soon had the cradle down from the attic and cleaned it up. They were surprised when Adam told them to put it in his bedroom. "Lydia will take care of Addy tonight. Thank you for getting the cradle ready. I think Hop Sing already has some bedding ready for it. Could you show Janelle to a guest room, please?"

"Thank you, all of you. I won't change my mind in the morning though if that's what you're thinking. I had two months to think this through. Think about it. If you were my parents, would you want me taking care of Addy or would you rather see her with Adam and Lydia? I think you all know the answer to that one."

Janelle followed Joe up the stairs. When they turned the corner at the top of the stairs, Ben and Hoss had many questions. Lydia and Adam did their best to fill in the story for them because even though they knew the basics, they could not understand why Janelle would consider doing what she was doing.

"I cain't see a mother giving away her baby like this. It just ain't right."

"Hoss, I understand your feelings, and generally, I would agree with you, but Janelle is not a stable person. If we don't do this at least for a short time, we can't predict what would happen. We can't put this baby in that kind of predicament. She's helpless."

"Son, are you letting your desire for a child affect your thinking here?"

"Maybe, but even if I am, the logic of what I've said still stands up."

No one could argue with that. After seeing Janelle's fragile physical and emotional condition and hearing what she had said, it was clear that Addy was not safe in her care. They retired to their bedrooms then but no one fell asleep quickly except Janelle. She slept well for the first time in over a year. In the morning, Ben was surprised to see Adam sitting by the fireplace holding Addy and feeding her. He looked up briefly when his father walked down the stairs.

"Janelle was right about not sleeping when Addy is with you. She wakes every two hours and is hungry, but she doesn't take much milk each time."

"She wasn't being fed enough. She looks like a newborn baby and yet she must be several months old. As she gets food more regularly, she'll begin to take more at each feeding. She'll sleep better then when she has more in her stomach."

"She doesn't smile or coo like I expected either. She snuggles in for comfort and seems to like that, but other than crying, she's very quiet."

"She's been thrust into the arms of strangers. It's not surprising. She's probably in a some shock over her change in circumstances. Do you think we ought to send a telegram to the Feldings letting them know where their daughter and granddaughter are staying?"

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I doubt that Janelle told them before she left. The carriage is a rental according to Hoss and Joe. She must have taken the stage here and then rented a carriage to come out to the ranch. Doing that in the dusk was a risky thing to do because she didn't know exactly where she was going. As much as anything, that should tell you what kind of mother she is right now. Cyrus must be very ill to have let this get so out of hand."

"We'll help her; we'll help both of them."

The whole family pitched in to help. It was a delight for all of them to have a baby in the house but especially for Hoss who didn't remember taking care of a baby and for Joe who had been the last baby in the house. In less than a week, both Janelle and Addy gained some weight and had better color. Addy especially seemed to thrive with all of the attention she got, but it was only in Adam's arms that she cooed. Ben guessed it was because he sang lullabies to her, but Lydia only smiled and watched her husband with the baby. She knew that Janelle could easily change her mind and leave with Addy, but she began to pray that would not happen. She was in love with that little girl and suspected that Adam was beginning to love her too.

Almost a week after arriving at the Ponderosa, Janelle stood on the porch and watched Adam and Hoss ride off together to work and Ben and Joe ride off in another direction. She decided the time was right and went inside to tell Lydia her cover story. "Lydia, I want to go to town to do some shopping. I could use a few things, but Addy is growing so fast now, I think I should get her a few more gowns. Do you think it would be all right if I asked one of the hands to hitch up a carriage for me?"

"Janelle, are you sure you want to go alone? You could get lost."

"I got out here when it was nearly dark. I think I can find town and then find my way back."

"All right, then, I heard Ben tell some of the men to fix the corral fence behind the stable. Just ask one of them to hitch up the carriage for you. Take my shawl though. It's hanging by the door. If the wind shifts, it can get much colder here very quickly. Make sure there's a carriage blanket under the seat before you go. Do you have enough money?"

"Yes, thank you, but that's the one thing I have in abundance. You take good care of Addy for me. I know she's in the best of hands."

"I will." It was only later that Lydia realized how permanent Janelle's statement had sounded.

As Janelle drove the Ponderosa carriage to town, Nate was riding back disgusted with his lack of progress and frustrated. Two days earlier, Sheriff Coffee had talked to him and asked why he had such a grudge against the Cartwrights. He had told him he didn't but that he was jealous of what they had. He made a comment about trying to find some work that was more profitable than working in a livery stable. He could tell that the sheriff didn't believe him, and he suspected that the sheriff might be keeping an eye on him.

It had to be Sam. He must have blabbed to the sheriff about how I go on about those Cartwrights. If I could, I'd pay Sam back for that. I have to make my plan work soon because I don't think I have much time but those Cartwrights are riding in pairs. There's no way to get to Adam or to Joe. I need a Cartwright for this to work.

It was then that Nate saw the Cartwright carriage being driven by a woman and headed toward town. He smiled and decided to scrap his new plans and go back to the original one. He would kidnap Adam's wife and hold her for ransom. Once he got the money, he would head out for Denver where he could have a new and better life. He was smiling as he rode down the slope toward the carriage and his target.

Chapter 6

Nate followed the carriage until the spot where he wanted to turn it and make it go to his little box canyon hideout. He pulled a handkerchief over the lower part of his face, drew his pistol, and rode beside the carriage yelling for her to turn it to the side. She did and he told her to keep going. He didn't want her to see him well so he never looked directly at her. Once they were at the box canyon and his tent, he told her to stop and get out. When she did and turned toward him, he was in shock. It wasn't Lydia Cartwright. It was a much younger woman who challenged him immediately.

"What do you want with me?"

"You're not Mrs. Cartwright."

"No, no matter how much I wanted that, it never happened. I was staying on the Ponderosa with my baby."

"Where's your baby?" Nate looked nervously at the carriage scared that perhaps the baby was there.

"She's back on the Ponderosa. I want Adam and Lydia to adopt her."

Nate thought furiously for a moment. "What's your name?"

"Janelle."

"Get in that tent and don't come out or I'll shoot you."

Looking appropriately scared, Janelle slipped into the tent but watched Nate through the crack between the tent flaps that he tied shut on the outside. Then he took a note from his pocket and scratched at it for a few moments. Next he tied his horse to the back of the carriage and drove back in the direction of the Ponderosa. Janelle slipped her hand through the tiny opening between two of the ties and began to work on untying one of the knots. It took some time for the first one but that gave her a bigger opening so she could untie the second one more easily. She broke some nails because she was nearly desperate to get out. If she was held here for long, her whole plan could disintegrate. If her parents got to Virginia City before she left, there would be no freedom for her. Once she got two knots untied, she could see the others as she worked on them. Within twenty minutes and some slightly bloody fingertips, she was free of the tent and looked around. There was a beautiful horse in the ramshackle corral. She had noticed a nice saddle in the tent. She lugged it out and took it to the corral and found a downed log she could stand on. The horse was a bit reluctant at first but cooperated after she found some food stashed in the tent and fed the carrot, apple, and a bit of grain to the tall horse. After leading the horse to the downed log, she managed finally to saddle him and then mounted up on him. He wanted to go toward the Ponderosa but she wanted to go to town. She got her way on that one even if he did a bit of head tossing.

Not completely sure of the direction she had to go, it took Janelle almost two hours to find her way to Virginia City. Almost as soon as she got there, the Sheriff was at her side asking how she had gotten Adam Cartwright's horse. She told the Sheriff what had happened and the general directions on how to get to the box canyon where she had been temporarily detained. She claimed exhaustion, and Roy had her go to his office to wait as he gathered several men and a tracker to follow her directions and the trail she had left. She watched him ride out of town and headed directly to the depot. She bought a ticket and waited on a bench in the waiting room until the train arrived. When it did, she saw her parents disembark. She stayed out of sight until the two of them were gone from the platform. She boarded the train then with a smile and left in less than an hour after arriving in town. Her luck had held despite the attempt to detain her. She was headed to San Francisco and what she hoped would be a better life. She shed very few tears at leaving her daughter behind but was absolutely certain that her daughter would have a much better and almost assuredly a longer life this way, and she would have her freedom and a husband who could afford to indulge her.

When Nate returned to his camp after sending the carriage on its way and found Janelle and Sport gone, he knew he had failed completely. He regretted not taking that job from Sam because now he would have even less than he had before. He packed hurriedly and rode east. He hoped that somehow he could get far enough away before the posse that was coming would be close enough to catch him. He stole some food from the mercantile in Carson City and rode east from there.

On the Ponderosa, there was much worry but also confusion. As some of the hands had been riding back to the ranch for dinner, they found the carriage abandoned on the road to the house. They brought it back after searching the entire area and not finding anyone who might have been driving it. Once they got it to the house, Ben and his sons looked it over wondering what had happened to Janelle. Joe found the note tucked into the space at the end of the seat. It had apparently been painstakingly prepared in advance, but when the kidnapper realized he had the wrong victim, he had amended the note. Lydia Cartwright was crossed out and Janel was written in its place. The five thousand dollar ransom demand had one zero crossed out so that the amount demanded was only five hundred. Adam was supposed to deliver the money to the crossroads at dawn the next morning. They were discussing that as Roy Coffee rode into the yard with Sport on a lead rope. Ben walked to his side as he dismounted.

"Roy, we were about to contact you. We've got a serious problem on our hands. Our houseguest, Janelle, has been kidnapped."

"Well, she was, Ben, but right now, she's a sitting at my office waiting for us to bring back the kidnapper. He had lit out by the time we got to his camp though."

"Who was it?"

"Near as I can figure at this point, it was Nate, the boy what works over at Litton's Livery Stable. He's been talking against all of you for some time according to Sam over at the Silver Dollar. I been watching him, but I hadn't seen anything suspicious. I'm thinking he might be the one shot Adam and took his horse too."

That got everyone's attention but especially that of Adam and Lydia who were standing by Sport. "Why would you think he was the one who shot me?"

"Sam says that Nate was as jealous as could be. He wanted a horse like yours. When we found his tent, he had a corral set up there, and Charley said there were tracks for two horses there. One set of tracks headed toward town so that was Janelle riding Sport, and the other set of tracks was over that some and headed east. I told Clem to send telegrams to Carson City and east of there, but it's likely he's already past Carson. He's kind of a plain young man so I doubt anyone is gonna notice him."

"How is Janelle?"

"She seemed more angry than anything. Said he never touched her or anything so I asked her to wait in my office. Does one of you want to come fetch her now?"

"We'll take the carriage back to pick her up." Adam helped Lydia into the carriage and then handed Addy to her. He told her to wait a moment and went to get a bottle from Hop Sing and an extra blanket. When he returned, Ben had some concerns.

"Son, are you sure you want to do this? It's getting late already especially to have Addy out there in the chill night air."

"Pa, if it's too late, we'll take rooms in town and be back in the morning." With a slight pause, Adam amended his statement. "That might be the best idea anyway." He returned to the house again and grabbed some clothing for all three of them and stuffed it in a satchel, got another bottle from Hop Sing, and then the three of them headed off toward town. Roy rode with them which was a comfort to Ben knowing that he was there for extra protection. All three got a big surprise though when they got to Roy's office and Janelle wasn't there. Clem was and had news.

"When she wasn't here, I checked around town for her. She took the train out this afternoon. She's long gone. Apparently she had no luggage or anything, but she had cash so I'm assuming she'll buy what she needs when she needs it."

For Adam and Lydia, there was a maelstrom of emotions from anger that Janelle had abandoned her baby to relief that she was gone and joy that Addy was most likely theirs if they wanted to keep her. Adam looked at Lydia and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"What do you want to do?"

"Adam, I love her already. I want to keep her."

"I want her too." Turning to Roy, he asked the question that would get the process started for them. "Roy, what's the law about a child abandoned by a parent?"

"Well, you have to go to a judge and present your case, but the way things have gone here with what you told me already, I'm guessing the judge would make you guardians. What happened next would be up to you. I'm sure if you were her guardians, she would have a good chance at adopting her except the close relatives would have to be given the choice first."

"The only relatives I know are Janelle's parents. They live in Timbertrack except in the winter, but Janelle said that they were moving to Arizona."

"I'll have to get in touch with them, Adam. They got a right to say ifn they want to raise that little one or they could say it would be all right for the two of you to take her in. We could easily get a judge to appoint you guardians of her. Now tonight, could you take care of her and keep doing that until we find her grandparents?" Adam and Lydia agreed. "Then, Adam, what's the names of Janelle's parents?"

"Cyrus and Jewel Felder. They live in Timbertrack, as I said before, but most mail or telegrams go to Altrusa to be delivered to Timbertrack almost daily."

"I'll send a wire today then if the office is still open but I doubt it is. Otherwise, I'll send one tomorrow. Now are you staying in town tonight or heading back to the ranch?"

"We'll be staying in town. It's too late to take Addy on a carriage ride. She needs to be fed, and soon, she'll need to sleep."

"I'll see you at the hotel in the morning then. Good night, and I do hope that little Addy gets to stay with you. I can see how much the two of you care for her."

With great care, Adam took Addy from Lydia so that she could stand. Then he handed the precious bundle back to her and held the door for her. Adam was lost in thought as they walked to the hotel.

If she doesn't get to keep this baby, it is going to hurt her deeply. I know how Cyrus and Jewel must feel, but I hope that they at least will allow us to be guardians for Addy. I find that even though it has only been a week, I can't imagine my life without her now. I'm sure that Lydia feels the same and loves that little angel even more than I do. I pray that her heart won't be broken. Losing Addy at this stage would be terrible for her, and if I'm honest, for me too. I know it's only been a short time since we first discussed adoption, but both of us immediately agreed that we would do that if we had to in order to get a child. Lydia must have been thinking about it as I was over the last couple of months. It seems like it was meant to be and I can only hope that's true.

Once they were at the hotel, Adam got their bag out of the carriage and got Lydia settled in a room before going back outside to get the carriage horse to the livery stable for the night. He returned to the hotel but was shocked as he walked into the lobby and met a couple exiting the dining room.

"Cyrus! Jewel!"

Chapter 7

"Adam, we got the wire that said Janelle was here, but I was so exhausted by the trip that we decided to wait until tomorrow to come visit her to see what mischief she's planning. How is Addy?" That excited explanation and question from Cyrus was enough to exhaust him, and he grabbed for a chair and sat heavily as Jewel looked worried.

"Cyrus, the doctor warned you not to talk so much. You have enough trouble breathing without that extra strain."

"Jewel, I'm fine. Now let the man answer, please."

"We have a room here tonight. Why don't we go to that room and talk? Lydia is there with Addy, and there's a lot to talk about."

As Cyrus struggled to stand, Adam offered some help and then surreptitiously offered his arm as support for Cyrus as they climbed the stairs. As Cyrus had his elbow securely held by Adam's forearm, anyone seeing them would only assume that they were good friends walking together. Cyrus was grateful for Adam's discretion even as he was exceptionally curious as to why Addy was up in a room with Lydia but there had been no mention of Janelle. When Adam opened the door to the room, Cyrus and Jewel saw Lydia sitting in a rocking chair feeding Addy. She looked up with a big smile that froze when she saw Cyrus and Jewel.

"I saw them in the lobby when I came in from taking care of the carriage. They're here because we sent the wire that Janelle was with us."

"Where is Janelle?" Cyrus wanted that answer first because he could see that Addy was fine.

"As far as we know, she took the train out of here this afternoon. It was probably the same train that brought you here. She had asked Lydia to look after Addy and apparently meant to leave even though there an attempt to extort money from us almost made her miss the train." Then Adam explained about the kidnapping and who they thought had done it and why. "Janelle got here a week ago and immediately handed off responsibility for Addy to us. She slept in a cradle in our room because Janelle said she couldn't get any sleep with her. Lydia has done most of the feeding and care for her since then. We brought her to town because we thought Janelle would need to nurse her because she has been doing that as she could. We were shocked to find her gone."

"That fool girl. Jewel, I bet she's gone to San Francisco to marry that scoundrel. He only wants my money. He doesn't love her. He hardly knows her."

"Oh, Cyrus, she's been so lonely and sad since Rolly was killed. She's desperate for a man to care for her. She always has been. We can go get her and bring her home. She needs to take care of Addy."

"Nonsense! She ran away from our granddaughter. She's not a fit mother for Addy. We'll take Addy with us."

"How can we take care of a baby? You have your health problems and businesses to run. I can't do it alone."

"We can hire people to help. Addy will be much better off with us than with Janelle."

Pale and shocked at the sudden change in plans, Lydia continued to feed Addy and then held her up to let her burp up the extra air in her stomach. When she did, Jewel came forward.

"Oh, Lydia, thank you so much for caring for Addy." Jewel reached for the infant giving Lydia no choice but to hand her over. Jewel held the baby to her and cooed to her noting how much better she looked than she had a week earlier with bright rosy cheeks and she had seemed to gain weight in that time too. "Lydia, what have you been doing to her? She's always looked so sickly and weak. We were afraid that we might lose her if she got sick with anything."

"She wasn't being fed enough. She was hungry all the time. She can take almost a cup of milk at a time now. We add extra cream to the milk when it's available, and she likes that very much. Our cook has mashed up some rice with the milk and cream to make a very thin gruel for her late night feeding and then she's able to sleep a bit longer so she's more rested than she's been too."

"You've done wonders for her is such a short time. I remember how healthy your children were." Seeing the devastated look on Lydia's face with that comment, Jewel felt bad. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad. It's just that you're such a natural mother. You seem to know just what to do all the time."

"Not always." Lydia's response was softly spoken but full of sorrow. She had lost her children to an illness and had been unable to save any one of them. Adam put a hand on Lydia's shoulder and she placed her hand over his grateful for his silent support.

"Cyrus, it's very late. Lydia and Adam seem to have everything needed to care for Addy tonight. Why don't we get some sleep and we can all visit in the morning and make plans."

"Addy should come with us to our room."

"Cyrus, Addy has lost her father and now her mother has abandoned her too. I will not take her away from the two people who have given her comfort and care for the last week. It wouldn't be right to do that to our granddaughter."

"Very well, but in the morning, I expect that we will take custody of our only grandchild."

Jewel didn't answer and looked back to where Adam stood by Lydia. Jewel stepped to them and handed the baby back to Lydia. She whispered. "Don't despair. I'll talk with him and hopefully he will be more reasonable in the morning. We'll talk then and work out a plan for Addy's future."

Adam opened the door for the Felders and wished them a good night. When he turned to Lydia, he could see how upset she was although she was still smiling cooing with Addy. He said nothing as she dressed the little one for the night, rocked her to sleep, and tucked her into a bureau drawer that they had lined with linens and padded with towels. With her own blanket wrapped around her, Addy slept well. Adam and Lydia were not likely to sleep much at all.

"Oh, Adam, they're going to take her away from us."

"Maybe not. Jewel seems to be leaning the other way. Let's let them think about it and talk about it. Perhaps by morning, Cyrus might be looking at this differently."

"Oh, I'm praying that he will. Adam, it's only been a week but she's ours as much as any baby could be. We love her, and she does so well with us."

Wrapping his arms around his wife, Adam said nothing but he felt exactly as Lydia did. He would never have guessed it of himself that he would so easily adapt to the role of father. He had always liked children but the idea of having one to whom he could be the father, the guide, the teacher, and perhaps even the mentor someday appealed to him on many levels. He longed to give his heart's love to a child. He knew that Lydia was crying and held her until he was sure that she had cried herself out. He pulled the covers back then and helped her to undress. There were no sexual overtones to what he did though as he wanted only to soothe and comfort her. He helped her slide a gown over her head, and once she slid into the bed, he undressed and joined her. They held each other and silently communicated their love until Lydia fell asleep from emotional exhaustion. Adam continued to hold her even as her breathing became soft and regular wondering what he could do or say that might make a difference in what would happen the next day. As it turned out, it was acting naturally that had the greatest impact of all.

In the wee hours of the morning, Addy woke and was hungry. Adam took her bottle and went down the desk asking the clerk if he could use the kitchen to heat some milk. The clerk agreed and helped Adam find the things that he needed. He brought the bottle up to the room and watched as Lydia fed Addy and then rocked her back to sleep. Again they slid into bed and held each other until they fell asleep. The early morning was much the same as Addy woke about seven, and was hungry and wide awake.

"Adam, you can stay in the room this time. I'll go get a bottle of milk for her. The kitchen will be open by now. You can rock her and keep her quiet until I get back."

"I think she needs a diaper and gown. I'll take care of that while you're gone."

Lydia smiled at Adam's willingness to do things that most men would not do, but knowing that he had helped care for Hoss as an infant was probably the reason for that or so she believed. She dressed quickly as Adam pulled on his pants and his black shirt. Adam talked softly to Addy but then began to sing little bits of lullabies to her to keep her from crying. She seemed to enjoy his singing very much and calmed each time he sang to her. Once she was clean, dry, and in a clean diaper and gown, he picked her up and sat in the rocking chair, but instead of rocking her, he laid her down on his lap facing him. With his left leg crossed over the right, he had just the right spot for her. He let her try to grab his fingers and he sang softly to her. She smiled and cooed at him seeming to recognize when he smiled back for she smiled even more then. At three months, she was becoming aware of the world around her. Adam heard a noise and turned to see Jewel and Cyrus standing in the doorway watching him with Addy. They had been in the dining room early, and when Lydia came in for a bottle of milk, they accompanied her back to the room. Lydia had opened the door quietly wanting them to see Adam with Addy. Jewel was smiling and Cyrus had a frown. He remembered well what Jewel had said to him the night before as they discussed what they should do about Addy.

Lydia was always a better mother than I ever was. Children thrived under her care, and look how well Addy is doing after only a week with her. You can hardly take care of yourself, so who's going to take care of Addy? Adam is as taken with that baby as Lydia is. We could have the best of both worlds. We could have Addy in our lives as our granddaughter and know that she was in a home and with a family who would do all they could to make sure that she had the best life possible. We didn't do well by Janelle. We have a chance now to do well by Addy.

As Jewel waited for Cyrus' reaction to what he was witnessing, she recalled his only argument against having Adam and Lydia raise Addy. He was concerned that Addy would be their only heir. With Janelle the way she was, it was unlikely that there would be any more grandchildren, and if there were, they were not likely to be the kind of people to make a grandfather proud. As Adam turned to look at them, Jewel saw the worry in his eyes. He was going to be as devastated as Lydia if they tried to take this baby from them. She knew then that Addy was in the right place, and she had to find a way to make sure that Cyrus did nothing to change that.

"Come on in. We're decent. Addy was listening to me singing, but I know that she'll want that bottle more." Adam stood to allow Lydia to sit in the chair, and then he gently placed Addy in her arms.

As Adam moved away, Cyrus moved up to stand next to him. "Adam, we have to talk about Addy's future. You know that she is my only heir. I cannot lose my connection to her."

Adam's shoulders slumped with that last comment. He looked to Lydia and saw a tear slide down her cheek. "I know you have that right, Cyrus."

"Well, then I expect regular letters telling us everything about her. We will still be her grandparents and she will be my heir. I expect to be invited for birthdays and major holidays. If she ever needs anything that you cannot provide, I must insist that I be informed and allowed to provide it for her. At regular intervals, say every year, a picture should be provided to us. Is that understood?"

"You mean that you will allow us to keep her?"

"Of course I will. You never thought I meant to take her away from two people who are the best parents my granddaughter could ever have, now did you?"

Chapter 8

"Do we have enough towels in the guest room? Adam, I want everything just right for Cyrus and Jewel when they get here. They haven't ever stayed here before and they haven't seen Addy in almost three months."

"Lydia, they're only going to be here two days. You've got enough towels in there for a two-week stay. They'll be fine. Most of the their attention is going to be on Addy anyway. They'll want to see how she's doing so they can know they made the right decision. More importantly, let's get Addy bundled up so that she can greet her grandparents when they arrive."

"How cold is it outside?"

"Too cold to take Addy to town to meet them. Pa and Hoss should be back here soon though if they arrived on time. The wind is strong. Hoss says that we'll have snow tonight."

"Oh, that would be perfect to have a white Christmas for Addy's first Christmas. Where is Addy?"

"Joe's downstairs trying to teach her to crawl. She may never crawl around at this rate because she enjoys these sessions with Joe so much."

"I hope he's on the big rug then."

"He is. He remembers the splinters he got last time trying to do that on the wood floor."

"Well at least he had enough sense that time to make sure Addy was on the rug."

Adam laughed. "Yes, my little brother does seem to learn best by experience but he's always careful about Addy."

"Adam, your brothers and your father are so wonderful with Addy. It seems this whole family stored up a lot of love waiting for a child to arrive. I cannot imagine my life without her now."

A sound of a carriage outside ended all conversation as both rushed down the stairs to pick up Addy, bundle her in the thick blanket they had ready for that, and headed outside to greet Cyrus and Jewel. They were at the side of the carriage as soon as their two guests climbed down with assistance from Hoss. Ben and Adam grabbed their bags, and with a quick check on Addy, the happy couple was escorted into the house. They had only briefly visited the Ponderosa three months earlier when they had wanted to see where Addy was going to live. Now with the house decked out for Christmas, it was even more impressive. The aromas coming from the kitchen of cookies and ham baking made everyone hungry. Hop Sing was soon there with a tray of cookies still warm and a pot of coffee. Adam put Addy on his lap and fed her bits of cookie that she obviously enjoyed. Ben and the others watched Cyrus and Jewel watching Adam and Addy. It was clear that they were more comfortable with the decision that they had made for Addy's future.

At dinner, Hoss shared the news that he and Ben had gotten from Sheriff Coffee. "That man Nate that Roy thinks was the one who shot you, Adam, and then later kidnapped Janelle: well he's likely gonna be hanging from a rope soon. He hooked up with a bunch of outlaws who tried to rob a bank in Placerville. They got caught but a bank clerk they were holding as a hostage was killed. They're on trial for murder, and unless Nate gets a great lawyer, he'll hang right next to them even though all he did was hold the horses for the getaway."

"He made a lot of bad choices, and although I have no desire to see him hanged, he got himself into that mess. There's nothing we can do to help him." Adam was glad it was over though. They wouldn't have to worry about Nate again.

That created a somber mood except Ben suggested that Adam get out his guitar and lead the group in singing carols. When he did that, Addy was sitting on Lydia's lap but put her arms out to Adam. She wanted to go to him. He couldn't take her and play the guitar, but Lydia moved to sit beside him. Addy reached out her hands to touch Adam's face, and when Adam began to sing, she smiled a huge smile and stared at him as he sang. His eyes were only for her and brought tears to Jewel's eyes to see it. She wasn't ashamed to wipe the tears away but saw Cyrus blinking furiously so that no one would see that his eyes glistened as well. After a few songs, it was time for Addy to go to bed, but Ben had a question.

"It's Christmas Eve and I would like a little present from you. Could I please hold her and let her fall asleep in my arms?"

Adam rolled his eyes but nodded so Lydia handed off Addy to Ben who had a big grin. Hoss had been playing pattycake with her or at least trying to show her how to do it earlier. Before that, Joe had been trying once again to get her up on her hands and knees to crawl. That didn't work either but both had taken so much time that Ben hadn't had a chance to hold his granddaughter especially because Cyrus and Jewel got turns. When she was sound asleep, Lydia took her upstairs to her crib. Ben suspected that Cyrus and Jewel would like to have some time to talk with Adam and Lydia so he volunteered to watch over Addy for an hour or so.

"Hoss and Joe can help, can't you boys?"

"Aw, Pa, you done raised the three of us. Ya don't need our help."

Joe punched Hoss in the arm then to get his attention and used his eyes to indicate the other four adults in the room.

"Joe, what'd you do that for?"

"Hoss, we need you to help upstairs and they don't need you down here."

"What? Huh? Oh, yeah, you need me upstairs. Well then, shur nuff, I'll go upstairs to help you."

Once Ben, Hoss, and Joe were upstairs, Jewel turned to Adam. "Adam, your brothers are darling, and your father is a charming host. Addy is even more blessed than I ever imagined. I hope you aren't spoiling her."

"No, we won't spoil her, but she will get all the love this family can give. Now, what have the two of you been up to in the last three months?"

"It's very exciting, Adam. Cyrus has bought a vineyard in the Sonoma Valley in California. We're going to have a small estate and produce and sell wine. It has many of the mission vines but also some that Haraszthy brought back from Europe."

"That's a surprise. It's a big jump from timber, lumber, and railroads to making wine."

Cyrus smiled. "It is, but there is little of the stress I had with those businesses. This will be enough to keep me busy without causing any more health concerns. The weather is mild there year round from what we've heard, and there's a vintner there who apprenticed to Krug. We'll pay him handsomely to keep him there. I want him to train some others so that the knowledge stays even if the man leaves at some point."

"That sounds very promising."

"Oh, it is. If you want to invest in the wine industry, I'll seek out some opportunities and let you know."

"I would appreciate that very much, Cyrus."

It was the ladies' turn to talk then. "Lydia, the house is big but not ostentatious. We have several guest rooms. I won't know how many until I see what Cyrus wants to do about having a study and an office or if one room could serve both purposes for him, but we will always have enough room for you to visit. I would so much like Addy to come see us once a year there."

"You'll visit here too though, won't you?"

"Lydia, certainly we'll come here to see our granddaughter. Once a year wouldn't be enough for me. You have been so gracious through all of this. Thank you so much. Addy looks so healthy and happy."

"Jewel, she is a happy child. We have such joy having her as our daughter." Lydia paused then to bring up a painful subject, but she had to know. "What of Janelle? How does she feel about losing her daughter?"

Jewel choked up when she tried to answer so Cyrus answered. "The scoundrel she wanted to marry reneged on the offer when he found out that she had basically run away and been disinherited by us."

"Disinherited?"

"Adam, I know you think that's harsh, but it was the only thing we could do. It wasn't because she left Addy with you. At first we were upset about that, but then we came to realize that she had made one unselfish act. She placed her daughter with people she knew would give her a good life and teach her to be a good person. No, what upset us was the man she was willing to marry. If that man had married her, she would have been miserable. He appears wealthy but he's lost more money than he's made. He wanted her as an avenue to my money."

"Where is she now? Is she going to be with you?" Lydia still worried that Janelle would return and try to reclaim Addy.

Cyrus sighed. "She met some adventurer who promised to show her the world. She sailed out of San Francisco without ever saying goodbye. We will likely never hear from her again. She was furious to learn that I drew up a will naming Addy as my only heir. I know you won't take advantage of that, but she would have so I stipulated that Addy was my heir as long as her father was Adam Cartwright and her mother was Lydia Cartwright. You don't have to worry. The only reason that Janelle would come after Addy would be to get my money. Now she can't do that."

"We're not worried. The judge gave us complete custody of Addy. Then because Janelle did not return in what the judge deemed a reasonable amount of time, he let us adopt her. Because Addy was only three months old when Janelle left her, the judge assumed she had given up any claim to her. She's legally our daughter now and Janelle has no legal right to her."

"I'm very glad to hear that Adam. You and Lydia are a dream come true for Addy. I can't express to you how grateful we are. When we get your letters about her, we read and reread them. Now I've seen her with your family too and I know how happy she is. I know that Jewel thinks the same, but every time she tries to say it to you, she starts to cry. Those are tears of gratitude and joy though. We are very happy for Addy."

"I should tell you that her legal name now is Adelaide Felder Cartwright."

"Oh, Adam, that was a sweet thing for you to do. Wasn't that sweet, Cyrus?"

"Adam, you are a man of honor and integrity. I admire you very much. Now, I am tired and I need to rest if I'm going to be able to take that sleigh ride tomorrow. Hoss did promise that there would be snow tonight."

"You may be skeptical, Cyrus, but it is amazing how often Hoss is correct in those predictions. We'll have a white Christmas unless it is one of those rare times when he is incorrect."

The next morning, there was a light blanket of snow on the ground, and snow continued all through the day. Hoss told them that it wasn't safe to have a sleigh ride in such poor visibility so he promised they would get one when they returned to town the next day. It did give them a full day of giving Addy attention except when she took her afternoon nap. By that night, Cyrus was exhausted but happy. Hoss gave Cyrus and Jewel their sleigh ride to town the next day. After waving goodbye, Adam went back inside and wondered where Lydia was. Ben was holding Addy and told Adam that Lydia had gone up to their room. He went up to see why.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"I feel fine. I feel better than I have in a very long time. Everything is wonderful."

Unsure what she meant by that, Adam waited.

"You know that house you plan to start building in spring for us? Well, you need to add another bedroom."

"I already planned a room for Cyrus and Jewel to use when they visit."

"Yes, I know. You need another bedroom."

Adam frowned for a moment and then suddenly he knew. "You are?"

"Yes, I am. I didn't want to say anything until I was sure. I'm sure now, and I wanted to give the news to you as another Christmas present even if it's a day late."

"When?"

"I'm thinking that it will be in late July or early in August."

"When do you want to tell the rest of the family?"

"Not for a while yet. I want us to have it as our secret for a while first."

"Addy will have a brother or sister." Adam looked a bit overwhelmed.

"You are happy, aren't you?"

Two years ago, I felt underappreciated and was frustrated with not having enough to do to use my talents and skills. Now I have a wife, a daughter, responsibilities and obligations, a house to build, and another baby on the way. I don't think I could be happier than I am at this moment.

Adam grabbed her in a hug and kissed her deeply. There was no need for words. He knew that the four of them were going to be very happy.


End file.
